TOKYO (AFP) — Tokyo has boosted its record haul of Michelin stars in a new edition of the culinary guide, cementing its status as the world's top-starred gastronomic capital.
The Japanese capital now has 227 stars spread across 173 restaurants, up from 191 stars given to 150 eateries last year. The city also now matches Paris with nine three-star eateries.
"Tokyo is, and remains, the most starred city in the world," Michelin director Jean-Luc Naret said. "Japanese cuisine is dynamic, diverse, rich and interesting. It's worth the travel."
With nine three-star, 36 two-star and 128 one-star restaurants, Tokyo amassed more than double the number of stars given to Paris.
The three-star recipients are among 70 "best restaurants in the world" to get the top award, said Naret.
In Tokyo, Ishikawa was the only Japanese restaurant admitted to the prestigious three-star club this year.
About two-thirds of the restaurants -- selected from a total of 160,000 in the Japanese capital -- serve up Japanese cuisine. A quarter serve French, and the remainder Italian, Chinese and Spanish cuisine.
While the first guide caused some grumbles in Japan that the judging process was done mostly by Europeans, the latest version was based "95 percent on the selection of Japanese inspectors," said the director.
The 2009 guide lists 14 new entries in the two-star category and 35 new entries in the one-star section, including a restaurant run by British chef Gordon Ramsay, whose eatery in London got three stars.
"The incredible number of two-star restaurants shows that Tokyo's gastronomy has improved. That means there is a large number of potential three-stars in the future," said Naret.
Three stars indicate "meals worth a trip" while two stars mean "meals worth a detour". One star promises an "excellent meal".
French chef Joel Robuchon holds the highest number of stars, with a total of seven -- one more than last year -- for his three restaurants.
Among the losers, one two-star restaurant disappeared from the guide due to the departure of its chef, while another shed one star. And 16 one-star eateries listed last year were removed from the 2009 guide.
"Stars are not engraved in marble," said Naret. "What counts for us is what a chef offers on the plate all year long. It's probably for that reason that we are always number one in the world," he added.
The 2008 guide for Tokyo sold 300,000 copies in a matter of weeks. Michelin expects a first circulation of 300,000 copies of the new Tokyo guide, which goes on sale from Friday in English and Japanese.
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